Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - What is holding Black America back, if not Hip Hop?

Shauk · 08-20-2003, 11:27 AM

I think the music itself can truely not contain a seed to bring down an entire race.

I believe the industry that controls the portrayal of individuals in music videos is whats responsible for the negative stigma.

I listen to what many of you would classify as "rave" music, but raves have a huge negative stigma of being drug induced orgy parties. It sucks.

I personally don't listen to hip hop/rap. though, I used to. It only appealed to because it came across to me as hardcore in a very angry time in my life. I also listened to metal. I'm primarily into electronic music now but I was in a weird situation back then however.

so heres a little story
my schooling was interesting. I did well in school because I wanted to. I wanted a future, My parents were divorced, I went with my mom, she went and bought the most run down house in the town (population roughly 1000) (ione, wa - look it up if you can)
she went on an alchohilic binge after the dust settled from the divorce. I never saw her except for when she was home and passed out.

My dad has just retired from the military when they split. we lived in a 250,000$ (market value of about 10 years ago) home with 100 acres
I was left with no family to care for me at this point. my spoiled rotten life of owning 100 acres and 3 ATV's and 4 Sno-mobiles came to a simple halt.
I was now living in the most ghetto place imaginable, no running water, only one room in the entire house with a floor (the back porch where i slept, as did my mom. no electricity, no food. where everyone was a gang banger wannabe, at this point I had never been on the internet, I had no access to what the world was really like.

one day my computer intelligence got me in a world of hurt.
RAM back in this time, was computer GOLD.
my principal, was getting into C.A.D. and this school in the middle of nowhere, adopted tech classes.
I learned how to strip computers down to nothing, identify parts, elementry CAD design, at this school. why? because the principal was a major computer geek. he actually hired an ex-nasa engineer to teach the classes.

me, I was rotten, I would be a thief, I stole all the RAM out of the principals computer in the lab and got caught 2 days later when one of my friends told him.

he scared me into a reality check.
he knew I was into computers, he knew I had potential, so he left me in his office for what seemed like an hour, then told me he decided not to press charges, instead, i was dropped from all my computer related classes, banned from even entering the computer lab, and was put on his duty list for a month. for the next month he made me punch in grades and design speadsheets and all the while, would talk to me about computers.

this guy is a god in my book
instead of having me arrested, he educated me and rehabilitated me better than any juvie hall would have.

I'm 24, I've made a nice little place for myself in this world, but it takes hitting bottom to appreciate what you have when you do have it.

08-20-2003, 11:27 AM	#27 (permalink)
Shauk Confused Adult Location: Spokane, WA	I think the music itself can truely not contain a seed to bring down an entire race. I believe the industry that controls the portrayal of individuals in music videos is whats responsible for the negative stigma. I listen to what many of you would classify as "rave" music, but raves have a huge negative stigma of being drug induced orgy parties. It sucks. I personally don't listen to hip hop/rap. though, I used to. It only appealed to because it came across to me as hardcore in a very angry time in my life. I also listened to metal. I'm primarily into electronic music now but I was in a weird situation back then however. so heres a little story my schooling was interesting. I did well in school because I wanted to. I wanted a future, My parents were divorced, I went with my mom, she went and bought the most run down house in the town (population roughly 1000) (ione, wa - look it up if you can) she went on an alchohilic binge after the dust settled from the divorce. I never saw her except for when she was home and passed out. My dad has just retired from the military when they split. we lived in a 250,000$ (market value of about 10 years ago) home with 100 acres I was left with no family to care for me at this point. my spoiled rotten life of owning 100 acres and 3 ATV's and 4 Sno-mobiles came to a simple halt. I was now living in the most ghetto place imaginable, no running water, only one room in the entire house with a floor (the back porch where i slept, as did my mom. no electricity, no food. where everyone was a gang banger wannabe, at this point I had never been on the internet, I had no access to what the world was really like. one day my computer intelligence got me in a world of hurt. RAM back in this time, was computer GOLD. my principal, was getting into C.A.D. and this school in the middle of nowhere, adopted tech classes. I learned how to strip computers down to nothing, identify parts, elementry CAD design, at this school. why? because the principal was a major computer geek. he actually hired an ex-nasa engineer to teach the classes. me, I was rotten, I would be a thief, I stole all the RAM out of the principals computer in the lab and got caught 2 days later when one of my friends told him. he scared me into a reality check. he knew I was into computers, he knew I had potential, so he left me in his office for what seemed like an hour, then told me he decided not to press charges, instead, i was dropped from all my computer related classes, banned from even entering the computer lab, and was put on his duty list for a month. for the next month he made me punch in grades and design speadsheets and all the while, would talk to me about computers. this guy is a god in my book instead of having me arrested, he educated me and rehabilitated me better than any juvie hall would have. I'm 24, I've made a nice little place for myself in this world, but it takes hitting bottom to appreciate what you have when you do have it.